


Coupon

by einsKai



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: Birthday Party, Families of Choice, Fluff, Getting Together, Hugs, Humor, I love you Minami, M/M, ZOOL is a family, balloon bashing, fuck Tsukumo Ryou lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-08
Updated: 2019-06-08
Packaged: 2020-04-12 06:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19126045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/einsKai/pseuds/einsKai
Summary: He raised his hand to catch Minami’s attention, and waved until the other spotted him and gave him a small wave back.“Midou-san, I wasn’t aware you rode a motorcycle.”





	Coupon

**Author's Note:**

> I too decided to write a little something for Minami's birthday.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this silly niblet of a fic!
> 
> Have fun reading  
> -Kai

”Is everything ready?“, Torao barged into the room that they had rented for the day.

The man sitting alone at one of the tables flinched when he heard the door crashing into the wall. He was alone in the room at the moment, the other one who would be allowed here nowhere in sight.

“Man, Tora, you need to calm down. That door has feelings too.”

“I’m more worried about a certain someone’s feelings.”

Touma sighed. Torao had been stressed about this whole ordeal way too much. He didn’t have a single hunch why that was, because of course the other hadn’t talked to them about it, so he and Haruka couldn’t respond to it properly. Though Haruka probably did know what was up.

“Haru is out getting cake right now. Apparently, his classmates showed him a place, the IDOLiSH7 ones. I’m blowing up balloons but look! There’s so many, and my lung capacity isn’t unlimited!”

A sigh from Torao. “Geh. His appointment ends in a few and I promised to pick him up.”

“…So you can’t help me.”

“Get Haruka to help you or something.”

“…I wish Ryou-san was here to help.”

“Don’t even say that.” 

They had taken precautions against their manager crashing their gathering. Again. They weren’t sure how long it would contain him though – Tsukumo Ryou was as unpredictable as a monster in a horror movie. It wouldn’t be surprising to any of them if he came crawling along the ceiling at some point, to pop the balloons to scare them.

Torao sat down together with Touma, to help him blow up the balloons. He’d manage at least a few, before he had to go and get the birthday boy.

“By the way, what kind of music did you put in the playlist?”, Touma asked. “I checked, but I couldn’t read any of it.”

Torao shrugged while he put a knot in the balloon. Those damn things were honestly super impractical, and they didn’t even look good. Next time he’d just go and print out a wall-sticker with a stock image of balloons. That was cheaper, easier, and probably better for the environment.

“I thought he wouldn’t exactly like hearing our rival’s songs, and also not any songs he wrote himself. So I just picked out some classics from the West, and some piano music.”

Touma looked at him like he had just declared that he had written a war and peace length novel completely in English.

“Don’t look at me like that, just because you don’t even know how to tell foreigners how to spell your own name.”

Without another word Touma turned back to his balloon task.

“…I can’t wait to let these latex bastards pop later.”

“Same.”

“I brought forks”, Haruka suddenly said. He had appeared behind them so suddenly, that both of them let go of the balloons that had been halfway blown up already. The sad colourful air sacks flew through the room and landed on the floor with a slap.

“Toraaa…”, Touma wailed.

“Yeah, okay, enough balloons”, Torao got up and wiped his hands on his pants. They probably smelled like rubber now, but what could he do. “We’ll be back in about half an hour.”

Haruka, who had put down the carton that probably contained the cake down on the table, where two presents were neatly sitting already, cocked his head in question. “But he’s only a three-minute drive away.”

Touma quickly shoved a hand in front of Haruka’s mouth. He whispered, “It’s so that Ryou-san can’t track us.” He whispered so loud that Torao could still hear him, but he chose to ignore it.

It wasn’t the actual reason.  
The third present in his pocket burned flaming hot against his skin, as if it was a piece of ever-burning coal that he had personally dug up from hell. Though it really wasn’t anything like that.

“I’m off”, he said, and grabbed the spare helmet he had gotten specifically for this occasion.

As soon as he was outside, he swung a leg over his bike. Or well, one of his bikes. Though lately, he hadn’t used any of the others he _technically_ owned, and the ones he was allowed to use by association with his ever-absent brother and his father.

Torao drove carefully and took care of following the route that he had looked up earlier. Today, everything was supposed to be perfect for Minami.

As if he had summoned him with that thought, the fourth member of ZOOL and today’s birthday child was just leaving the building where he had worked at today when Torao stopped his motorcycle. He looked indifferent, not especially tired or annoyed, though Torao could tell that he sported a few tense muscles in his shoulders from his posture.

When had he begun to be able to notice things like this?

He raised his hand to catch Minami’s attention, and waved until the other spotted him and gave him a small wave back.

“Midou-san”, he said as he stepped closer, “I wasn’t aware you rode a motorcycle.”

A familiar feeling overcame Torao. Girls often liked asking him about his vehicle of choice as a way of flirting. He felt his ears grow warm. Never before had he felt flustered by something like this. But it was familiar territory. He could flirt too. Fuck, he was _here to flirt_ , now he couldn’t go back and wish that he had come by foot. The envelope hung at his side heavily.

“I came to pick you up”, he said and held out the helmet. He considered winking but didn’t in the end.

Minami chuckled and took the helmet. “Are you not offering me your leather jacket, to protect me, in case I fall?”

“I won’t let you fall”, Torao said.

“You’re doing a splendid job of ‘picking me up’, Midou-san. I feel like we’re going on a date”, he put on the helmet. It suited him. Of course it goddamn did.

“Get on”, he said, instead of answering that.

Minami did as he was told and slung his arms around Torao’s torso.

“Do you trust me?”, he asked over his shoulder as he started the engine. Instead of an answer, Minami squeezed him with his arms. Good. Perfect, even. The envelope in Torao’s pocket lost weight. He felt more confident now. This would work out, and it would be good. Definitely.

They drove for only a few minutes, maybe a quarter of an hour. Torao knew where to go, he had looked up the way earlier, and already taken the route once, because he wanted to make sure that he was able to find the place.

Finally, he pulled into the parking lot of the park. Torao hadn’t known that there was a park here, and had been surprised himself, when he had looked up nice spots in the surroundings of the room they had rented for the day.

The sun shone brightly, and Torao felt hot in his jacket. He took it off and slung it over his shoulder. Minami was taking off his helmet.

“Why are we here?”, he asked. “I expected Inumaru-san and Isumi-san.”

“Yeah, I’ll take you there later”, he said and rubbed his neck sheepishly. “I have something to give to you first.”

They were still standing in the parking lot, which was _not the plan_ , but now Minami was looking at him like _this_ already, and Torao knew enough about him to tell that he wouldn’t follow him into the park to that nice sunspot with the bench in front of a pond.

Well then it had to be this way.

“Your present”, he said, and pulled the envelope, that had only gotten crumpled a little bit, from his pocket. “Happy birthday Minami.”

“Thank you, Midou-san,”, he said and took the envelope with both hands. He opened it slowly, so slowly that Torao got impatient, and regretted that he had sealed it so thoroughly.

When he finally pulled the card from it, Torao prepared himself.

Minami stared at the present for a long time. Or it just felt so long, because Torao had gotten so nervous, even though he had never gotten this nervous about anything like this. Well, actually so far, he hadn’t been the one who did this. Maybe it was normal to get a little nervous.

“Midou-san”, Minami said finally. His voice was thinner than normally, and Torao felt like lightning had struck his spine. Was Minami crying?

“Yeah?”

“Can I… start using the coupon right now?”

Yes. It had worked. He had thought about this for so long, and so hard, and it had actually payed off. Also the fact that his desk was full of colourful paper scraps, and his bin was overflowing with letters that he decided not to use in the end, because they could never convey what he wanted to tell Minami.

“Sure”, Torao opened his arms. Immediately they were filled with _Minami_ , and Torao felt a foreign heartbeat next to his. Or maybe it wasn’t all that foreign, because this was the heartbeat that made all the beats, they had been dancing to together all this time.

The present, a ‘Coupon for Unlimited Midou Torao Hugs’, fluttered to the ground.

“How long until it expires?”, Minami asked. His voice was muffled, but Torao could still hear it.

“Next birthday”, Torao answered. He rested his chin on top of Minami’s head. “Then you’ll get a new one.”

“Can I upgrade it too?”

“Upgrade?”

“I won’t be satisfied with only hugs, Midou-san”, it sounded matter-of-factly, as if there was no other way of seeing this situation. Torao swallowed.

“If you wanna you can upgrade it too”, Torao mumbled. He hadn’t expected it to go this fast, and he certainly hadn’t expected to be hugging Minami in a parking lot that was definitely a lot less clean than it could be, and the sandy underground with the small pebbles in it was hard to stand on. But he wasn’t complaining.

“Then… may I have a kiss as well?”

“Feeling bold?”, he grinned.

“I’d like the full boyfriend Midou-san package”, Minami said and looked up at him. Oh, he was feeling bold for sure.

When Torao didn’t respond immediately, Minami tensed up and backed away from him. “Did I read the situation wrong?”, he asked. “If so, I apologize. I didn’t mean to –“

“You didn’t read anything wrong”, he said and pulled Minami back into the hug. “I want that too.”

“Then this is, quite honestly, the best birthday present I have ever received, Midou-san.”

 

It wasn’t long after that, that they returned to the place were Haruka and Touma were playing something akin to volleyball with the last balloon they hadn’t plastered to one of the walls or chairs with tape.

“Mina!”, Touma greeted the newcomer. “Happy birthday!”

“You took long”, Haruka said, but he too wished Minami a happy birthday.

“If you’re worried about Ryou-san”, Touma said as he sat Minami down at the table, where they had already prepared the birthday cake with candles that were almost burning down and dropping molten wax all over the cake. “We told him that we were celebrating in that mountain resort we went to for filming for that ad for a while. And we told him we would go there by car and that we’d take him back with us, so he should come with the bus. There’s only one bus a day, and there’s no signal up there, so we’re like 80 percent safe.”

“80?”, Haruka sneered. “I’d say more like 30, but whatever. Blow out the candles and make a wish!”

Minami chuckled, and did as he was told, and as soon as no candles were burning anymore, the other two got their presents from the table and gave them to Minami to unwrap.

Haruka had gotten him a cover for his keyboard. He probably already had one, but this one was clearly handmade, and had their logo on it. Minami looked at it in delighted disbelief and looked back at Haruka, who was trying his best not to be seen by anyone.

“Isumi-san… did you make this yourself?”

“So what if I did? Maybe my grandmother taught me knitting.”

“It’s wonderful. Thank you very much. I will treasure this.”

Carefully he folded the cover up and stuck it back into the wrapping paper neatly.

Touma’s present suspiciously had the same shape and size as the present that he had given Torao earlier this year, and in Haruka’s face Torao could see the dawning realisation that his present probably wouldn’t look any different from this.

“A friendship lamp”, Minami said, politely only after he had opened the present.

“Yes! It’s the kind that lights up when you touch it, and its friend, the one I have, will light up in the same way, and reverse.”

“That’s a very thoughtful present, Inumaru-san. Thank you very much.”

Minami opened the box and plucked the lamp into the wall outlet.

“How about we try if it really works by touching right now?”

Torao didn’t know why Minami would suggest that, at least until Minami began tapping the lamp, that actually responded to his taps very well, and the lamp lit up in a certain pattern.

.. / .- -- / -- .- -.. .-.. -.-- / .. -. / .-.. --- ...- . / .-- .. - .... / -- .. -.. --- ..- -....- ... .- -.

He knew this kind of thing, but Minami was too fast, too well practiced for him to catch any of it or decipher it. He would have needed a guide to understand this. Now he regretted that he hadn’t been filming. Maybe he could ask Minami later.

Haruka also definitely knew that something was going on, because he kept eyeing Torao with that look.

The only one apparently oblivious to the new tension in the room was Touma.

“Now I always know when Mina and Tora use their lamp!”, he said smiling.

He didn’t seem to notice that this was more than just a little creepy. Why would anyone want to know when other people were using their lamps? The friendship lamp surely was meant as a gag-gift, or at least something similar to that. But Touma just really wanted to be reassured of their friendship. Torao wondered if he had heard of friendship bracelets before.

“Should we eat cake now?”, Touma asked then, completely ignoring the glances that the others were giving each other.

The cake was fantastic. Even though Touma cut the slices unevenly and gave Haruka a piece bigger than he could actually eat, it was delicious. It was one with various fruit, and the sweetness and the sourness was mixed perfectly. Minami seemed to like it too, which made Torao happy.

It was a peaceful atmosphere at the table, everyone eating their cake, chatting about something that was so unimportant that nobody would remember the conversation after it was over. Minami scolded Touma for speaking with his mouth full, and Torao nudged his now-boyfriend’s leg with his. Haruka sent him a glare that read ‘if you continue playing footsies under the table, I will stab you with my fork’, but the forks were not that scary, and Torao acted as if he hadn’t seen it.

 

When the party came to an end Torao and Minami gathered the presents and the leftover cake and got on Torao’s motorcycle to go home together. Haruka and Touma were left to clean up, and Touma could finally get his revenge on the balloons.

The ride home was different from the ride they had had earlier. Minami was more comfortable with sitting close to Torao, and he was clinging to him more, as if now he actually had the permission. The concrete was still warm, even though the sun was already setting, and the humming of the engine was a pleasant sound.

Torao imagined Minami spinning melodies from the sounds of the road and writing lyrics that were way too cheesy to be ZOOL songs.

When he stopped in front of Minami’s place, he was almost sad it was over already. Though there would be other days, many, many days. Torao could still not really comprehend that the one who was standing in front of him was his boyfriend now. He was sure Minami felt the same. It was a little surreal.

“Midou-san”, Minami jolted him out of his thoughts. “Thank you so much for today.”

“It’s no problem”, he answered without missing a beat. “Anything for you.”

He hoped he didn’t imagine the light blush dusting Minami’s cheekbones at that.

“Well, I’m off then. See you tomorrow –“, his words were interrupted by a hand on his sleeve.

“You aren’t staying?”

 

Torao followed Minami up the stairs.

 

 

 

“I didn’t know you knew Morse”, Torao said that night, as they were curled up around each other in bed despite the lingering heat of the day. “What did you say with that lamp?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know”, and even though it was dark, Torao knew that Minami was smiling right now.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Happy Birthday Minami! I love you!
> 
> If you want to talk to me you can do so on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/eins__kai) or [tumblr](https://einskai.tumblr.com/)~
> 
> Have a nice day!
> 
> \- Kai


End file.
